I wrote an article on this in 2006. I was astonished to find that bumblebees were reared for commercial pollination. Had no idea. Things are worse since then from what I read. I find this all very depressing
Disappearing bees may make us hungry
August 7th, 2006
The humble bee, regular visitor to summer gardens, is threatened by changing environments and disease with potentially significant implications to our food chain. Bees are the ultimate pollinators of many of the plants we rely on for food. Some sources suggest that a third of the vegetables and fruits humans consume are pollinated by these tiny creatures. As they decline in numbers, so does plant health, with uncertain knock-on effects.
Things are not what they appear
At face value, everything seems rosy. The European honey bee dutifully carries out important work on our behalf through the careful siting of hives close to outdoor crops by the many beekeepers across the UK (around 44,000 of them maintaining close to 274,000 colonies). Honey bees increasingly pollinate wild plants as wild bee numbers fluctuate. At the same time, various species of bumblebee are commercially reared to pollinate greenhouse crops like tomatoes. Defra estimates that the economic value of commercial, bee pollinated UK crops is £120m-£200m per year, whilst the value of honey production is as much as £30m per year.
The threats to bees
Increasingly however, the hard working honey bee is threatened by disease and a lack of funding. The British Bee Keepers Association (BBKA) indicates that the Government has threatened to deregulate European Foul Brood (EFB) by reducing the number of inspections. EFB is a disease of the honey bee larvae which can spread rapidly. It causes considerable damage and is difficult to eradicate without regular inspections. The BBKA have campaigned hard to avoid cuts in bee health initiatives. They appear to have won some battles but the war against cutting suitable governance measures to control the disease continues.
To make matters worse, many of the reared bumblebees are in fact imported and could decimate natural populations if their use is not strictly governed and controlled. There are examples from across the World. New Scientist recently reported that non-native bumblebees have escaped and bred in Chile and Japan. Quoting a source at Queen Mary, University of London, they confirmed that escaped commercial bees could survive in the UK countryside and were larger and more aggressive foragers than native bees. The invaders also produce more queens capable of creating new hives. Japan has already imposed harsh restrictions on bee importation, the UK has not.
Upsetting nature
When it comes to pollination, one might suppose that imported bees were just as capable as native species. But as is often the case, nature doesn’t offer quite so convenient a solution. In a huge new study recently published by the journal Science, the diversity of bees and wild flowers are inextricably linked. Researchers noted that numerous plants need particular bees for pollination. The authors suspect that intensive farming and pesticides, and the loss of wild habitats, are reducing the numbers of bees and flowers. They studied more than a million records collected over the last century in the UK and Netherlands and found that the diversity of bees had fallen in an astonishing 80% of wildflower sites over the last 25 years.
If our native bee species decline the implications on food production could ultimately be drastic. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust reports that fewer queens are foraging in spring and native plants are setting less seed. This could result in sweeping changes to the countryside and there are indications that food crops will ultimately be affected. And of course, a significant variety of wildlife that is equally dependent on these plants might also share our hunger.
On-line sources
- University of Southampton Press Release dated 23rd May 2006, about the creation of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, visited on 4th August 2006
- The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, visited on 4th August 2006
- New Scientist Online, article titled “The Plight of the Native Bumblebee“, visted on 4th August 2006
- New Scientist Short Sharp Science Blog, visited on 4th August 2006
- The British Beekeepers Association, visited on 4th August 2006
- Natural History Museum, visited on 4th August 2006
- English Nature, visited on 4th August 2006
- Defra website, section on Bee Health, visited on 4th August 2006
